NYC: Applewood in Park Slope, Brooklyn

For our one year anniversary we went to a restaurant in Park Slope, Brooklyn known for using local and seasonal ingredients.  They are also listed on my previous post from the Slow Food.  Since we got married at Blue Hill at Stone Barns, we thought it only fitting to continue sustainable food restaurants.  Applewood is a restaurant that has been on my radar for some time now, and this was the perfect special occasion.

These don’t look so good but they tasted great.  The first one was black bean (left), butter (middle) and pate (right)

We started off with pork belly.  It had a lovely crispy skin and lots of flavor for the meat.  

I ordered the duck breast with a deconstructed panzanella, which was probably the best roasted duck breast I’ve ever eaten.  

Ethan ordered the pan roasted North Carolina wreckfish and pickled rhubarb salad

For dessert, we ordered the almond cake...delicious!  What a great way to end a fabulous meal.

Applewood (map)

501 11th Street, Brooklyn, NY 11215

NYC: Milk Bar

If you read my Momofuku posting, Noodle Bar was just okay.  Good, but I don't think I'll be dying for another trip here anytime soon.  Another David Chang joint we tried is Milk Bar.  We ordered the cereal milk shake, and cereal milk soft serve ice cream which tasted just like the leftover milk from a bowl of cereal - if only I could think of the cereal it tasted like.  It was really good.  I think I'd order the soft serve  ice cream again.

We also tried the Crack Pie and Compost Cookie.  The Crack Pie wasn't as addictive as I thought it would be, but it was good and tasted like a butter pie.  The Compost Cookie was great, it really was just a mixture of just about anything you can think of.  It was as if a little kid just came up with the recipe and couldn't make up their mind about what to make so they just mixed everything together.

The it primary ingredients (in case you can't see the detail from the photo) is sugar, brown sugar, cream, egg yolks, whole oats, unbleached wheat flour, and whole eggs.

Milk Bar (map)
207 2nd Ave
New York, NY 10003

NYC: Barney Greengrass

After my last post on Zingerman's Deli in Ann Arbor, I thought it would be only fitting to do a post on Barney Greengrass - The Sturgeon King, my favorite New York City deli. My husband Ethan and I have been going here for a while now and we always take our out-of-town guests here. Of course there's 2nd Avenue Deli, Katz's Deli, Carnegie Deli, etc...the list goes on.

A few things to know when you come here to eat. Be prepared to order quickly. Save the conversation until after you've given your order. My favorite is the hot pastrami with coleslaw on rye. Unlike other deli's oversized sandwiches, Barney Greengrass sandwiches are reasonably sized for an average American (wink to Lexanonymous). If you come on a weekend, you definitely have to order the latkes since it's only available on the weekends. The Latkes come with sour cream and apple sauce - a true taste of heaven. Ethan often orders one of the triple decker sandwiches. On this day, he ordered the pastrami and tongue with coleslaw on rye. The sturgeon is also great, a bit expensive, but something really good to try while you're here...I mean, he is the "King". On this visit, Cecilia (Ethan's sister) ordered the cheese blintze with jam. I had a little taste and it was great.

Latkes with a dolup of applesauce and sour cream

Hot Pastrami with Coleslaw

Triple Decker: Pastrami and Tongue with Coleslaw

Cheese Blintz with Jam

Pick up a black and white cookie before you leave!  It's not the oversized ones you usually see, but a great little sweetness to linger in you mouth as you walk out the door.  

Barney Greengrass (map)

541 Amsterdam Ave (bet. 86th & 87th)

New York, NY 10024

Zingerman's Delicatessen - Ann Arbor

On my recent trip back home to Ann Arbor, Michigan I ate lunch at Zingerman's Deli.  I love this place!  Is it strange that the first thing I want to do in Ann Arbor is go to Zingerman's - a New York style deli?  I went here with my husband Ethan and brother Jason.  I never know what to order when I see the list of all the sandwiches on the board, so I did something completely out of character for me...I agreed to split a sandwich with Jason.  When Jason was halfway through the second half sandwich I realized that he wasn't going to share.  That's okay, I didn't want to share, either!

So, would I say it's pretty close to a NYC style deli?  In some ways yes, and in many ways, no.  The sandwiches are made with great quality ingredients, and in some people's eyes, they're oversized.  The difference I think is that Zingerman's is just too pretty.  You would never walk into a NYC deli that looks like this.  The staff are all ridiculously friendly and they never rush you - this isn't a bad thing, it just doesn't happen the City.  And the differences are the big reasons why I love Zingerman's ; )

Between three of us, we ordered the following:

#2 Zingerman's Reuben
Zingerman's corned beef, Switzerland Swiss cheese, sauerkraut & Russian dressing on grilled, hand-sliced Jewish rye bread.

What Jason says, "I remember this sandwich being so much better...like "this is the best sandwich ever" good.  Don't get me wrong, I loved every bite of the delicious grill Zingerman's rye bread and tender corned beef (which I didn't share with anyone), but I don't know about $15 and long lines (luckily the lines weren't too bad that Saturday).  And I almost ate another one before I left, but it wasn't good enough to spend $30 on 2 sandwiches in one weekend..."

#13 Sherman's Sure Choice
Zingerman's corned beef, Switzerland Swiss cheese, coleslaw & Russian dressing on Jewish rye bread.

Ethan's not always a fan of grilled (melted cheese) sandwiches.  He thought the bread was really good and was excited to eat the Reuben that wasn't grilled.  He loved the pickle too!

#85 J.V.W's Detroit St. BBQ 
Zingerman's BBQ Amish chicken, Nueske's applewood-smoked bacon & coleslaw on grilled sourdough bread.  Served with a side of applewood-smoked baked beans.

I loved my sandwich! The BBQ chicken was amazing with the coleslaw and bacon...my mouth is watering all over again just thinking about it.  I have to agree with Jason on the price, $15 for a sandwich is a bit much, but without thinking about the price, the sandwich was still great!

Here are some additional random photos:

Zingerman's Deli 
422 Detroit St. (map)
Ann Arbor, MI 48104

NYC: The Barn at Bedford Post Inn (Brunch)

Janet:

I've had my eye on Bedford Post Inn for some time now and finally, Yumi and I booked a morning of Yoga followed by Brunch in the Barn. I really wanted to spend the night at the Inn, but at $400 a night, it's a bit out of my price range. It was a beautiful 50 degree, blue sky day. Yoga in the morning was a great way start to the day. The class we took was called Iyengar yoga...I don't do yoga enough to really know the difference between all of the yoga styles, but it was really good and I can't wait to go again. Bedford Post is only about 45 minutes from Manhattan.

The Barn was really quaint and rustic. It's still a bit too cold to be eating outside, but that's why we need to go back there so we can enjoy it all over again once the weather is a bit warmer. I ordered the spicy grilled chicken sandwich with a side of applewood smoked bacon. Yumi and I shared a side of herbed french fries. The fries were NOT that good. They weren't soggy, but they weren't really crunchy either and they just missed flavor.

Dessert...yes, we ordered dessert after brunch, we shared a warm chocolate brownie with stracciatella gelato.

Yumi:

I had the poached eggs with polenta, which was really good, but really rich so I couldn't finish it. The best part of the visit was the snacks that we picked up after brunch. I got the vanilla cupcake and an apple strudel. The cupcake was moist with just the right ratio of cake to frosting, and the apple strudel was just sheer bliss. The apples were cooked to perfection with a hint of lemon.

Spicy Chicken Sandwich

Warm Brownie sunday with Stracciatella Gelato

Here are some other pastries from the Barn:

Bedford Post Inn

954 Old Post Road (map)

Bedford, NY 10506

NYC: Shake Shack (Upper West Side)

I've been dying to try Shake Shack for  years!  I have no idea what's taken me so long to go, I mean, the main midtown location isn't too far away from my office...maybe it's the wait, maybe the hype.  Well, I have to say that it is definitely worth all the hype.  Ethan and I finally checked it out tonight for dinner and I was in heaven!  I can't wait to go back again.

Let me start with what makes this place so good...to me.  I'm obsessed with burgers.  It's my biggest weakness and if there's only one thing I could eat for the rest of my life, it would be a bacon cheeseburger.  Anyway, the Shake Shack burger not only uses really good quality ingredients but it has the perfect bun to meat ratio.  I was pretty happy that they use American cheese for their burger - it's my favorite choice of cheese for burgers.  It's not overpowering, or greasy, but creamy and melts just perfectly.  I (being the piggy that I am) ordered the Double ShackBurger (American cheese, lettuce, tomato and Shack sauce).  Ethan ordered the same thing but with a single patty.  I think the next time I go, and I'm starving, I'll get two Singles.  The fries come separately, but what's a burger without fries?  And what's a burger and fries without a shake?  I ordered a strawberry shake and Ethan ordered a chocolate malt.  He wasn't that impressed with the malt since he said he couldn't taste much of the malt powder.  Mine was excellent, no complaints from me.

This past Summer when we were in Colorado, we went to a burger joint called Lark Burger which was also really good.  They were actually comparable tasting burgers.  The size is a bit deceiving (both the LarkBurger and the ShakeBurger), but with the fries AND shake, it's quite filling.  A great recommendation from my brother.  The next time we're out there, I MUST get another LarkBurger.

Single ShackBurger on the Left and Double on the Right

ShackBurger - Double

Yummmm...mmmm...mmmm

Strawberry Milkshake

Shake Shack (map)

366 Columbus Avenue (at 77th Street)
646-747-8770

NYC: New Leaf Cafe

It was a beautiful Sunday afternoon and I had to get out of the apartment.  Ethan (husband) and I went for a walk to the Cloisters, then grabbed brunch at the New Leaf Cafe.  I've been here once before with a couple friends and the only thing I remember was that it took way too long for us to get our food.  This time around the service was very fast and I was quite pleased with the food (at least my food), maybe because it was just the two of us.  There is an outdoor area which is a great place to sit on warmer days.

Brunch came with a complimentary glass of fresh squeezed orange juice or grapefruit juice.  I ordered the Croque Monsieur smoked ham, gruyere, brioche, bechamel sauce with two eggs sunnyside up.  It was good and filling...I probably didn't need to get the two eggs since I'm sure the sandwich alone would have been more than enough.  Ethan ordered the German Style Baked Apple Pancake with Vermont Maple Syrup. The pancake looked pretty but didn't really have much umph.  It looked like they forgot to fill in the pancake with....food.  For $18, it's definitely not something to get again.  Luckily I was feeling generous, so I shared my sandwich.

Aside from the food, I really enjoyed the photographs of squash all over the restaurant.  It wasn't until we were walking out, that I noticed they displayed the book which all of the photos were based.  The book is called "The Compleat Squash: The Passionate Growers Guide to Pumpkins, Squashes, and Gourds".

The New Leaf Cafe

German Style Baked Apple Pancake

Croque Monsieur with two eggs sunnyside up

The New Leaf Cafe (map)

1 Margaret Corbin Drive

212-568-5323